Suicide Squad – Movie Review

With some of the best trailers, posters and viral videos, Suicide Squad has had one of the best marketing campaigns in movie history! Does the film live up to the hype? So, is Suicide Squad any good?

no

Suicide Squad is the 3rd entry to the DC Cinematic Universe and follows the story of a squad of Gotham’s best villains, including Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Deadshot (Will Smith) Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney) and El Diablo (Jay Hernandez), that is created by Amanda Waller (Viola Davis), a high-ranking government official, to take down an enemy that could destroy the world.MV5BMjMxNDc2NTYzNV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwODc3NDY1OTE@._V1_SX1777_CR0,0,1777,736_AL_Giving Suicide Squad a ‘NO’ really pained me. I wanted this film to be great! After the not so stellar Batman V Superman hit our screens, I really thought DC was going to rein it in with this sure-fire hit. But alas the film is bogged down by the same issues that have plagued both of the first two entries in the DC Cinematic Universe.MV5BMTkzNjM5MTUxMV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNzc3NDY1OTE@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1503,1000_AL_The pacing is horrible; the script is all over the place. One second we are rushing into battle on the sands of Normandy until we have our Achilles heel snipped and are thrown into a 10-minute flashback sequence that adds nothing to the film. The first 45 mins of the film is just origins for members of the squad. We live in a social media world, so these origins should have been trailers. The way they end up in the finished product feels out of place, as it’s basically a series of short films.MV5BMjIxNTM0OTcyOV5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMjg3NDY1OTE@._V1_SX1777_CR0,0,1777,738_AL_It isn’t until the second act that the film really kicks into gear and the team is finally together and kicking some monster arse! Harley Quinn is by far the most developed character in the film and rightfully so as Margot Robbie’s portrayal of the doctor turned Mr J’s part time lover is on point. Robbie nails the character to a tee, she is hilarious, crazy and (I’m not going to lie) she’s easy on the eye.  MV5BNTQ5NDg4ODQ2Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwNTQxNzA0OTE@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1497,1000_AL_As some of you might know, I don’t like Jai Courtney. For me, Jai Courtney is like the mutated spawn of Hayden Christensen and Sam Worthington; I’d rather watch paint dry then watch this wooden actor take to the screen as Captain Boomerang. However I’ll shout from the highest rooftops, Courtney is perfect as Captain Boomerang; he is a crazy beer guzzling, lunatic from Australia, which is undoubtedly a perfect fit for the Australian-born actor.MV5BMTY5ODcyODQ2Nl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwOTc3NDY1OTE@._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1498,1000_AL_My main gripe with the film is that it’s meant to be about a team of the most dangerous villains on earth, however at no point did I feel that any of the squad were actually that villainous, they didn’t do anything cruel or callous. The squad felt like a bunch of people that have a bad rap sheet but were wrongfully accused. I‘d almost expect the sequels to Suicide Squad to be spin-offs of Making A Murderer.  There was a real missed opportunity for this film to have a love-hate relationship with every onscreen character, similar to the feeling you get with Heath Ledger’s interpretation of The Joker. Unfortunately all the characters come off as heroes.MV5BMTU4NzYyMTQyNl5BMl5BanBnXkFtZTgwMTYxNzA0OTE@._V1_SX1777_CR0,0,1777,744_AL_I’m a big Batman fan. I’ve loved this character like many for as long as I can remember and along with that I also love The Joker. He is an unpredictable, funny, sadistic murderer that is above all Batman’s smartest enemy. He can get inside of Batman’s head like no one else. Plainly put, and as Alfred would say, he just wants to “watch the world burn”. This interpretation of The Joker is a gangster that is just nuts. That’s all. Jared Leto has turned up the volume of the character to 11 and he never comes down. He’s missing all the fundamentals of who The Joker really is. In saying that, I did see glimpses of greatness. There is one amazing shot of the Joker and Harley Quinn in full Alex Ross get up that sent shivers down my spine, but overall Jared Leto’s version of The Joker is not The Joker. Keep in mind his screen time only sits around 10 to 15 mins so there will be a whole lot more of the character to see in later films, however I’m hoping that the popular fan theory turns out to be true and the real clown prince of crime comes out of the shadows.MV5BMTA0MTI0MjQwNzJeQTJeQWpwZ15BbWU4MDg2MTcwNDkx._V1_SY1000_CR0,0,1498,1000_AL_Another awesome part of Suicide Squad is the soundtrack. The film is loaded with awesome music that will stay in your head for days. In fact, I’m currently singing Harley’s Theme of ‘You Don’t Own Me’ in my head. The tracks are perfectly placed throughout the film. It’s a soundtrack lovers wet dream.

While Suicide Squad isn’t all bad, it just doesn’t have enough for me to recommend to any DC fans or film fans for that matter. You can forgive DC for Man of Steel or maybe even Batman V Superman but 3 films into the DC Cinematic Universe is far too many to still have so many underlying issues. I’m still holding out hope for Justice League as I know the film is in good hands with Geoff Johns’ hands deep into the pie.

SUICIDE SQUAD hits theatres in Australia tomorrow!

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